Chapter 132: The Grand Overseer and the Ultimate Reality Check
The laughter echoing from the balcony of the Obsidian Spire was so loud it actually caused a minor tectonic shift in the neighboring dimensions. Volt, the Demon King, was currently showing Kaelen of the Dying Sun how to make a "Divine Smoothie" using the leftover sparkles from the Paladin's shattered helmet. The atmosphere was celebratory, almost domestic, if you ignored the fact that they were standing in the ruins of the gods' former home.
But the party came to a sudden, grinding halt. The violet sky of the Empire of the Violet Star didn't crack this time; it simply turned into a flat, white void—like a piece of paper that had been bleached. All the color, all the laughter, and even the scent of the nectar vanished in an instant.
From the center of this bleached sky, a figure descended. He didn't have wings, armor, or a sword. He was an elderly man in a perfectly tailored, pinstriped suit, carrying a leather briefcase and wearing a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. This was The Grand Overseer, the CEO of the Council of Void-Walkers and the ultimate authority on "Narrative Consistency."
"Enough," the Overseer said. His voice wasn't loud, but it had the quality of a lead weight dropping into a pool of mercury. "This has ceased to be a 'minor anomaly' and has officially become a 'budgetary nightmare.' I am here to close the file on this reality."
Akuto, still holding a rubber chicken from the previous fight, flew up to meet him. "Hey, old man! Nice suit. Did you steal it from a museum of 'Boring Things'? You're ruining the vibe."
The Overseer didn't even look at Akuto. He simply reached into his briefcase and pulled out a red stamp. "Character: Akuto. Status: Redundant. Action: Delete." He pressed the stamp into the air.
A massive, red "DELETED" sign appeared over Akuto's head. Suddenly, Akuto started to fade, turning into grey pixels. "Uh, Father? I feel a bit... low-resolution," Akuto shouted, his voice sounding like a 1980s radio.
Volt stood up, the sunglasses falling from his face. The golden crest on his wrist flared with a dark, rebellious fire. "You think a stamp and a suit make you an Author? You're just a bureaucrat with a fancy briefcase."
Volt leaped into the sky, his 6000% influence surging like a tidal wave. He grabbed the "DELETED" sign over Akuto and literally ripped it in half. "In this empire, I am the one who decides who is redundant!"
The Overseer adjusted his glasses, looking genuinely annoyed. "Volt, you are being difficult. I have millions of stories to manage. I don't have time for your 'Protagonist Complex.' If you don't comply, I will have to resort to... The Final Edit."
"Try it," Volt challenged, his aura expanding until it forced the color back into the sky. Anos joined him, his God-Slayer blade transformed into a massive fountain pen of violet energy. "We've spent 132 chapters building this world, Overseer. We aren't going to let a middle-manager erase the progress bar."
The Overseer sighed and pulled a giant, silver eraser from his briefcase. "Fine. Let's do this the hard way."
He swiped the eraser across the horizon. A massive chunk of the Empire's mountain range simply vanished. No explosion, no dust—just a white gap where the mountains used to be. The 12 million points of influence dropped to 11 million in a second.
"He's erasing the background!" Sasha yelled from the balcony. "If he erases the scenery, we'll have nowhere to stand!"
"Not on my watch!" Akuto roared, having regained his resolution. He dove at the Overseer, but the old man simply stepped to the side and slapped a 'Post-it Note' on Akuto's back that read: [Moved to Chapter 1: The Weakling Phase].
In a puff of smoke, Akuto turned back into his 5-year-old self, wearing oversized pajamas and holding a wooden sword. "Hey! My voice is squeaky again! This is cheating!" Little Akuto yelled, trying to swing his wooden sword at the Overseer's ankles.
Volt couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. "Overseer, I have to admit, that was a good one. But you forgot one thing."
Volt tapped the Author's Mark on his wrist three times. The 'Contract' screen appeared in the sky, but instead of "Applying," it now read: [ROOT ACCESS GRANTED].
"I didn't just reclaim my throne," Volt said, his voice dropping an octave into a terrifying, demonic bass. "I hacked the system. I'm not just a character in your archives anymore. I'm the virus that's currently eating your briefcase."
Suddenly, the Overseer's briefcase began to smoke. It turned into a swarm of black beetles that flew away, scattering the Council's "Deletion" files all over the sky. The silver eraser turned into a giant marshmallow.
"What?! My equipment!" The Overseer looked horrified. "This is a violation of the Multiversal Terms of Service!"
"I never read the Terms of Service," Volt said, appearing right in front of the Overseer. He grabbed the old man's tie and used it to pull him closer. "Now, give me back my son's age, or I'll rewrite your pinstriped suit into a tutu and make you dance the ballet for the rest of eternity."
The Overseer looked at Volt's eyes—pools of infinite, laughing darkness—and realized he was outmatched. This wasn't just power; it was pure, unadulterated "Creative Freedom."
With a snap of his fingers, the Overseer restored Akuto to his proper age. "Fine! You win this round! But the Board of Directors will hear about this! You can't just ignore the genre rules forever!"
"Watch me," Volt said, giving the Overseer a friendly pat on the back that sent him flying back into the white void. "And tell the Board I'm looking for a new secretary. The pay is terrible, but the smoothies are divine!"
The white void collapsed, and the violet sky returned. The mountains reappeared, and the 12 million influence points surged back to 15 million as the 'System' acknowledged Volt's victory over the CEO.
Akuto checked his muscles. "Phew. I missed being tall. Pajamas are comfortable, but they don't have enough 'Menace'."
Anos sheathed his pen-sword. "That was the CEO, Father. Who's left? The Shareholders?"
Volt sat back on his throne, putting his sunglasses back on. "Let them come. I've always wanted to see what a 'Shareholder' tastes like. Probably like bitter coffee and broken dreams."
The family gathered back at the Hearth, the mood even higher than before. They had faced the ultimate boss of the multiverse and turned his briefcase into a bug farm. The 'Applying' phase was truly dead; the 'Demon King's Comedy Hour' was now the highest-rated show in existence.
"Vanessa," Volt called out, "get the big plates. Tomorrow, we're hosting a meeting for every 'Deleted' character in the multiverse. We're going to start a union."